Short home studio tour, plus analog synth sounds!

  • I've really gotten into analog (subtractive) synthesis lately. Partly for the way it sounds (entirely its own thing, whereas super realistic digitally sampled strings and such always make me think the real thing would have been even better), partly for the incredibly inspiring interactions these instruments require. My semi-modular gear just surprises me every time I start tweaking and plugging patch cables.


    Here's a very short piece of music I came up with very late last night. All analog gear, except for the Kemper, which I used for Micro pitch, Vintage chorus, delay and reverb on the string ensemble-like chords from the Korg Minilogue. Enjoy!


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    (PS. I do bleepy-bloopy sounds too when I'm in the mood, but this time it just came out all orchestral-like. :) )

  • The strings are two slightly detuned square waves per voice with pulse width modulation on the polyphonic (four voice) Korg Minilogue (run through the Kemper's effects section). The brassy sound is a sawtooth wave with the filter cutoff controlled by my Korg MS-20's mod wheel via patch cables, the chime uses ring modulation on the MS-20. Nothing that wouldn't have been possible 40 years ago. Except for the Kemper of course. :D

  • That's hell of instruments @Robrecht - well, your video made me reconsider going into synth world. I almost grabbed Novation Mininova/Ultranova, but Korg Minilogue sounds better from what I heard. By the way my first instrument had keys - it was accordion ^^ and I still dig the keyboard instruments.

  • Great home studio and sound - I like the smooth cam movement - what did you use to capture it?


    And yes, I was and are a big analoge fan as wel.

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  • Nice. Is that a mini MS-20? Hard to tell scale from the video. How do you feel about the build quality?

    Yes, mini. Funny thing is, my first foray into the modular world was with Korg's MS-20 midi controller, combined with their Legacy software. I figured it would be a good way to get my feet wet and combine the hardware synth experience -- intuitive, hands-on controls -- with the advantages of digital, like saving presets and extra possibilities (a polyphonic MS-20!). Functionally, it works exactly like the real thing (plugging patch cables sends the appropriate midi signal to the software) and it was a great way to learn how to operate a synth.


    Meanwhile, I had collected a few real analog, semi-modular synths (MicroBrute, Dreadbox Erebus and most recently a Moog Mother-32), and having an exact MS-20 replica just standing there without being able to incorporate all those fantastic patch points in a modular fashion was a little frustrating, so I finally got a real (secondhand) MS-20 mini.


    Build quality is good, but not great. The knobs definitely feel a little cheaper than those on my other synths (super smooth on the Moog and the Erebus, reassuringly tight on the MicroBrute). But then of course I don't know how the previous owner treated it.


    Great home studio and sound - I like the smooth cam movement - what did you use to capture it?

    Just the Android camera app on my Nexus 6P, stabilised by Google's Photos app afterwards. Cool, huh?


    Dig the theremin! Another part of the Moog story.

    Yes! And of 20th-century music history in general. It's hard to master, though. Here's a younger me eking out a very wonky Bach (to be fair, it was only my second practice session).

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    By the way my first instrument had keys - it was accordion and I still dig the keyboard instruments.

    Cool!! Do you still play the accordeon?